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Welcome visitors from the New York Times. Readers of this blog know I have a good deal of contempt for True.com, one of the most talked about online dating sites in recent years. True, which attracted 3.8 million visitors last month and boasts 16 million members, spent $52.2 million over the first 11 months of last year on Web ads, more than double the amount its rivals spent online.
The NY Times has written an article about True, “Hot but Virtuous Is an Unlikely Match for an Online Dating Service.” I was quoted towards the end of the article. Herb Vest, True’s founder, admits, among other things, that the dating site sends out fake winks to members, attempting to justify the feature as an icebreaker for those too shy to initiate conversation.
Dan Consiglio, a 49-year-old engineer from Vancouver, Wash., said he received dozens of winks from women after signing up for True, and responded to many of them. He got only one response, from a woman who kindly informed him that she had not, in fact, winked at him.
I’m glad Vest owned up to some of the company’s most questionable practices, but remain frustrated that True can be so irresponsible and cruel to members and still make so much money.
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Golddigger and cradle robbing perv.
The guy is full of crap. He is on his third marriage. Has a history of sexual harassment, Cheating, hookers, threesomes, being sued by his ex fiancee. Vest faked an engagement by running of with another women to Vegas and Hawaii bought the girl one hundred thousand dollars in jewelry. All this to hurt this women he dated/cheated on for over 6 years. He cheated on her and has been stalking her by hiring a detective to follow her. As many as 7 people tracking her at the same time. Had is detective and two others follow her to Vegas on her birthday with her sister because he thought she was a lesbian hooker. Vest has done this since 2001 up to 2004 when the detective Danny K. Williams stopped working for Vest and is currently being sued by Vest. The detectives have video typed, photographed, stolen trash, and possible broken into her computer, home, and wire tapped her phones, had her friends followed. The woman fears for her life and is afraid to leave her home or put out her trash to this day. That is why she is suing Vest. Vest continues to stalk this woman and has spent and hundreds of thousands of dollars even after Vest got married. Vest told the detective that he loves her and that he married this girl because he liked her and that she is just after his money. Vest told the detective he thought his ex was a lesbian hooker and in the mafia. Vest is trying to keep the lawsuit from the public by having the case sealed. The case was just heard by the appellate judges Feb. 28. There should be a decision in the next month or two. Vest only argument was that Vest never hit her. The cause of action filed is Deliberate and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. The trail judge granted Vest a summary judgment before Vest took a deposition or complied with discovery. The judge was a republican who received money from the GOP that Vest loves to tell everyone that he is the largest donor or the republican and GOP in Texas. The judge should have been removed from the case. There will soon be other lawsuits filed against Vest for stalking and invasion of privacy. Major democrat attorneys want to take this case to fight the issue that summary judgments are unconstitutional. The woman is prepared to take this to the US Supreme Court
This woman has proof of perjury by Vest and his attorneys To the courts. Vest is tying to calm that she is stalking him and his wife now. Vest has defrauded his two sons and his mother of millions. Never has seen his grandson. Vest broke the settlement agreement with the Doctor he sued and had to pay the doctor. He thinks the CIA murdered his father. Vest has no friends and keeps his wife away from her family and friends. Young, dumb, with boobs that is how he likes them.
Vest claims his site is wholesome and the safest. The protection people need is from him and True.com running date bait and billing scams.
Case Information: http://www.5thcoa.courts.state.tx.us
Koehlar, Teresa Marie v Vest, Herb D
two cases: 05-05-01366 CV, and 05-05-01710 CV
You continually dissaopint me and and I know I’m not alone. The whole “wink” thing is an option the user has. It appears at the bottom ofthe Profile section (About Me part 5).
The user has the option of sending winks to people who match his profile, or vice versa.
It’s not a game of shadows and mystery - it’s right there in black and white.
“Mr. Vest acknowledged that the service sends artificial winks.”
I would be disappointed if I were you too.
I can’t get to part 5 of the profile to read the text because I am forced to take a 20 minute test. Does part 5 say “we send out fake winks, click here to disable?” If not, you have some explaining to do.
I agree, no game of shadow and mystery, tell us about how the fake winks work.
Again - mis-using quotes..
The article said artificial - not un-initiated -
Before you finish setting up your profile, and on teh same page you put in your headline, it clearly has the following box:
Let us help you get started. Based on some of the information you’ve just given us, we’ll introduce you to up to 20 of your closest matches.
(Each of these have a check box next to them)
Who I’m Looking For.
Yes, select my best matches and tell them I’m interested in hearing from them.
Who’s Looking for Me?
Yes, select my best matches and tell them I’m interested in hearing from them.
Who’s Seen My Profile?
Yes, show me who’s seen my profile and tell them I’m interested in hearing from them.
(they’re all optional boxes to initiate these “winks”)
My profile page doesn’t have those options, but I filled it out ages ago, so I really can’t comment on the location of the checkboxes.
If I did not specifically initiate a wink, it’s fake, or inauthentic. Call it what you want, that’s a tricky grey area that you can argue about all day long. My point is that these winks are dishonest, inflate pageviews, time spent on the site and most importantly get people’s hopes up for no reason.
Why does True claim they do background checks on everyone. That is false. Vest even admitted it. Without personal ID there is no way to get correct background checks. True needs to post warnings about accuracy of their checks.
Background checks don’t show mentally ill people, perverts, emotional and verbal abusive people, sex addicts, drug users, liars and cheats, porn addicts, swingers, rapest and murderers that haven’t been caught.
How about that “Free” trail. It isn’t free at all. True charges upfront. Why doesn’t true put a renewal notice once the “free” trail is up? Or how about answering the darn phone?
Why do customers have to take those stupid test? What is True using the information for. eharrony does require anyone to test.
Why is True the most expensive at 50 bucks? Vest claimed background checks cost him a $1.50, so where is the rest of it going the Boob ads?
Why did Vest rip off his kids and why won’t he pay them back?
What is in the lawsuit that Vest is afraid for the public to see? so he had it sealed?
What about Vest using a detective to stalk his ex for more then 5 years, even after he got married?
What about Vest wanting to reduce the divorce rate and expose married people. Vest is on his 3rd marrage. Vest’s records only show 1 marriage and 1 divorce. If Vest’s record isn’t correct how do we know True’s records are correct?
What not refund the people that has been ripped off. Sell and use the money from the building Vest bought.
What happen to all those Match former employees that Vest said he would protect?
Did Vest get/use Match information from those employees?
Who has/is/will sue True.com and Herb Vest?
Today the Illinois legislature did what the Florida legislature wouldn’t do – crush a bad online dating bill in committee.
I had a premonition that things would go well in Springfield. Hey, it’s the Land of Lincoln and Illinois is the state where I was born!
But superstitions aside, the members of a House Judiciary Committee really carried the day here with their probing questions and clued-in skepticism about HB 563, the Internet Dating Disclosure and Safety Awareness Act.
Take Rep. Jim Sacia for instance. He’s an ex-FBI agent that really knew the difference between background checks and criminal screenings. He said that criminal screenings—the kind contemplated by all of the state online dating bills, were incomplete and too easily defeated to mean anything.
First, Rep. Sacia described the kind of thorough background check that makes use of lots of input data to dig deep into one’s personal history. It requires having providing such personal information as social security numbers and fingerprinting. This is the kind of analysis I had performed on me before I was admitted to the D.C., Georgia and Virginia bars.
Then he described the criminal background screenings that True.com obtains from Rapsheets. This check requires only credit card information and a birth date. But it only provides felony conviction and registered sex offender information.
But here’s the whammy: in many states–including Florida and Illinois–only a small percentage of counties report to a central database accessible by companies that provide criminal background screenings for online dating providers.
So…a criminal screening provides limited data from a limited pool of people…and legislators are—through mandated disclosures—wanting to imply that they’re good for consumers?
Rep. Sacia understood the false sense of security that would result from passing the bill. But so too did many of the other members of the committee. And they overwhelmingly voted against HB 563.
Which makes me feel for the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bradley. I think he’s just one of the many legislators that have been bamboozled by Herb Vest and True.com. Related to this, my colleague Steve DelBianco has a blog post where he explains a recent New York Times article about True and hopes that legislators aren’t fooled by the false promises behind True.com’s propaganda.
Some of you may remember my post Discouraged Advocate Seeks Legislators that Refuse to Coddle where I describe my jadedness upon coming back from Tallahassee. For now, color me optimistic.
Vest and his attorney have flat out lied to the courts and sent a letter to the court that it was “untrue.�
Vest’s two sons loaned Vest 7.5 million when he was in financial trouble. Now Vest has disowned his sons and refused to repay. Vest has even gone as far as telling them to “prove it� and “sue me� Vest was the trustee on his oldest son’s account and without permission or knowledge that account was cleaned out by Vest. Vest’s own mother accused him of fraud and forgery by signing her name to a note issued to her when she helped her son start his business.
If Vest does this to the people that love him and he claimed to love. Is it that hard to believe that he would lie and decieve his customers?
Vest is living large in Dallas with a new 300K+ Maybanc car and new home in the works of millions. He hasn’t paid a dime to his sons and in fact left one holding the bag for his current home. They are broke and he is riding around in a 300K car.
There is a class action lawsuit against True.com filed in Dallas. If you have been ripped off by True.com contact: filed by Washington D.C. based Tycko & Zavareei LLP along with Dallas, Texas based Crews, Shepherd & McCarty LLP.
District Court of Dallas County, Texas, and is titled “Wong v. True Beginnings, LLC.� True Beginnings, LLC
It is time for the FBI, IRS, SEC, DTP, Dallas DA and Texas DA to investigate Mr. Vest.